Exile in Brooklyn, With an Eye on Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s Ex-President, Plots Return From Williamsburg, Brooklyn

By JASON HOROWITZSEPT. 19, 2014

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Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, has made a new home for himself in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “I used to look at this place from Manhattan, it was such a pity, it was mafia, a place where hit men dump bodies,” he said. Credit Todd Heisler/

 

The New York Times

AT the Smorgasburg food fair in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Mikheil Saakashvili motored in fluorescent green sneakers among bearded men with tattoos and women in revealing overalls. They lined up for Cheese Pops, Dun-Well Doughnuts and other local delicacies. He ordered a fresh coconut.

“My friend, one of the biggest sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates, gave Georgia 20,000 palm trees,” Mr. Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, said as he dropped a straw in the machete-opened fruit and emptied its water with a few deep pulls. “As a personal gift.”

Mr. Saakashvili is in self-imposed exile on North Seventh Street — plotting a triumphant return, even as his steep fall from grace serves as a cautionary tale to the many American government officials who had hoped he would be a model exporter of democracy to former Soviet republics.

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Since leaving office last November, this George W. Bush favorite — whose confrontation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia led to a disastrous war in 2008 — has commandeered his uncle’s apartment in a tower on the Williamsburg waterfront, where he luxuriates in the neighborhood’s time-honored tradition of mysteriously sourced wealth. When not lingering in cafes, riding his bike across the bridge or spending stag evenings with friends on the Wythe Hotel rooftop, Mr. Saakashvili seizes on the Ukrainian conflict and his experience with Mr. Putin’s wrath as a lifeline back to political relevance.

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Mr. Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia, attended the Smorgasburg food fair last month in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he has lived since leaving office last November. Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times

“It’s the end of Putin,” Mr. Saakashvili, 46, said of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, the topic of discussion on Thursday as its president, Petro O. Poroshenko, met in Washington with President Obama and congressional leaders. Mr. Saakashvili called Mr. Putin’s actions “very, very similar” to those in Georgia. “I think he walked into trap.”

BUT Mr. Saakashvili, considerably plumper than when he was in power, argues that the conflict should also mark a reappraisal of his own reputation as a reckless leader whose peaceful Rose Revolution and commitment to reform were eclipsed by years of riding roughshod over opponents, bending the rule of law and provoking Mr. Putin into a war that resulted in the death, displacement and impoverishment of thousands of Georgians. “It should be revisited,” he said.

Mr. Saakashvili said that while he had a “normal life” in Brooklyn, he considered himself a big deal in Eastern Europe, pointing out that on a recent trip to Albania “they shut down traffic for us and our 20-car escort.”

Mr. Saakashvili’s personal rehabilitation project is complicated by his eroded popularity back home and charges filed against him by Georgian prosecutors of human rights violations and embezzlement of government funds. He shrugs off the prosecutors as politically motivated puppets of his nemesis, the billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Some of Mr. Saakashvili’s critics agree that the charges say as much about the current Georgian government’s hunger for revenge as they do about him.

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For now Mr. Saakashvili is writing a memoir, delivering “very well-paid” speeches, helping start up a Washington-based think tank and visiting old boosters like Senator John McCain and Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary of state. He said he was in the process of changing his tourist status here to a work visa and in the meantime is enjoying the bars and cafes of his adopted homeland. On his roof deck, with sweeping views of Manhattan, he has entertained David H. Petraeus, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and is expecting Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, at the end of the month. Usually, a cousin mans the grill, along with the chef from Fabbrica, the neighboring Italian restaurant opposite a CVS. Like those chain drugstores, glassy high-rises and Eurocentric nightclubs, Mr. Saakashvili is evidence of Williamsburg’s steady transition to a playground for moneyed out-of-towners.

“I used to look at this place from Manhattan, it was such a pity, it was mafia, a place where hit men dump bodies,” he said, recalling his time in the 1990s as a Columbia University Law School student. Now he sees “a jazzy atmosphere” rife with energy and new construction.

“Williamsburg is part of the democratic transformation,” he said.

Mr. Saakashvili tends to see a lot of things through the lens of democracy building. He calls the fashionable Cafe Mogador “my absolute favorite cafe, because it’s very democratic.” And while he complains about Williamsburg’s high cost of living (“I’m not poor poor, but it really bites”), the champion of free enterprise admires the social mobility of his new neighbors.

“They are hipsters,” he said. “But they are still making tons of money, and they live a pleasant lifestyle and make it in life. They are no longer a marginal part of society.”

On one of his first nights in Williamsburg, Mr. Saakashvili waited in line with friends to get into the Wythe, but was turned away because he did not have identification. “It’s O.K.,” he said. “It’s not a posh place like in Manhattan.”

ON a more recent weekend, the man the Secret Service once dubbed “the Energizer Bunny” charged out of the food fair and into the Artists & Fleas market, where he pulled Prada sunglasses from his graying sideburns and went straight to a booth selling clocks made from retro hardcover books. “I bought 50 of them and sent them back to my presidential library,” he said. Five months before, he said, a woman spotted Leonardo DiCaprio here.

Moments later, a Georgian living in Manhattan, Lali Lobzhanidze, approached him and asked, “Are you Mikheil Saakashvili?”

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Mr. Saakashvili in Williamsburg. Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times

“My DiCaprio moment,” he said, delighted.

Mr. Saakashvili is frequently noticed by his countrymen, whose opinions of him vary. “He’s creating rifts in the diaspora,” said Vakhtang Gomelauri, a critic of Mr. Saakashvili who organized a 2012 protest of him at the United Nations after the revelation of rampant rapes of inmates in Georgian prisons. But a group of Georgian students was eager to pose with him on the Bedford Avenue subway platform. “It went viral,” Mr. Saakashvili said.

The former president usually takes the L train into Manhattan, where he frequents Oda House in the East Village (the owner likes him, the waiter does not) and Pepela, where he orders a 2004 vintage of the dry red Georgian wine Orovela Saperavi and he recently lunched with Bill Clinton.

Catalan parliament approves November independence vote

Published time: September 20, 2014 09:25

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People hold "estelada" flags, Catalan separatist flags, during a gathering to mark the Calatalonia day "Diada" in central Barcelona September 11, 2014. (Reuters/Albert Gea)

The Catalan parliament has passed a law giving its regional president the power to carry out a non-binding consultation vote on secession from Spain. Catalan nationalists believe this law enables them to hold the long-awaited independence referendum.
On Friday, the Catalan parliament voted in favor of the new law, with 106 MPs supporting it and 28 voting against.
The MPs hope it will bring Catalan President Artur Mas a step closer to the planned independence referendum on November 9.
However, while the nationalist block thinks the bill directly paves the way for a referendum on independence, the Catalan socialists who allied with them for the vote do not share this opinion.
The Spanish government called the Catalan consultation vote illegal and said it will be taking the matter up at the Constitutional Court. The court has the power to suspend the vote after it hears the case on Tuesday.
Madrid maintains that any kind of secession vote has to be decided by the whole country, citing Spain’s 1978 constitution.

Reuters/Albert Gea

Catalonia’s new law comes right after Scotland voted “No” to independence, but Mas said that the people should not see it as a discouraging sign.
READ MORE: Scotland votes 'No' to split from UK in independence referendum
Mas stressed that the fact Scotland had a referendum to decide on this issue was “key.”
“This is a powerful and strong message that the UK is sending to the entire world – that if there is such a conflict elsewhere in the world you have the right way to try to resolve these differences,” he said.
Scotland “has shown the way to others – the Catalan process continues,” Mas added.

Reuters/Stringer

The Catalan independence movement has grown from strength to strength over the last few years, gathering momentum against a backdrop of EU financial crisis. The autonomous region of Catalonia has a population of 7.5 million and accounts for almost one-quarter of Spain’s GDP.
On September 12, Europe saw one of the largest demonstrations in recent years: at least 1.8 million people formed an 11km red-yellow line to show their support for the upcoming independence referendum.

Vatican shrugs off warning of IS plot against Pope Francis in Albania

Vatican City: Warnings that the Islamic State organisation may be plotting to attack Pope Francis during his visit to mostly-Muslim Albania on Sunday have been shrugged off by the Vatican.

Pope Francis. AFP

Despite warnings from Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See that the 77-year-old could be in danger - and reports in the Italian media of new IS recruits returning from the Middle East to Albania - the Vatican said security measures would remain unchanged.
The Argentine pontiff, who habitually throws caution to the winds to mingle with the crowds, will use the same open-topped vehicle he uses in Saint Peter's Square at a mass in Tirana, the capital of one of Europe's poorest countries.
Some worry the pope has made himself a target by speaking out against the Islamic State organisation and having the Holy See voice support for US air strikes in Iraq - a rare exception to its policy of peaceful conflict resolution.
"In cases like this, where there is an unjust aggression, then it is licit to halt the aggressor," he said in an interview last month.
"But I stress 'halt'. I don't say bomb, or make war, but rather stop him," Francis said.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said he knew nothing about any concrete threats to the pope and the Albania trip would go ahead as planned.
"There has been nothing that has lead us to make changes, either to the programme, or to the way in which he travels," he said.
From Tirana, the pope will go to Fushe-Kruja, 20 kilometres away, to visit a centre for orphans and disabled children - a trip he would not be making if there were any concerns over security, authorities in the Albanian capital said.
However, in an interview with Italy's La Nazione daily this week, Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Habib Al Sadr, said "what has been declared by the self-declared Islamic State is clear. They want to kill the pope. The threats against the pope are credible."
Italian newspapers also suggested Albanian jihadists who had gone to fight for the IS group in Syria or Iraq might be planning an attack on their return.
The Corriere della Sera daily cited a unidentified source in Tirana, saying: "The jihadists have always claimed that their final objective was Rome. But if Rome comes to Tirana, even for a few hours, that objective becomes even simpler."
AFP

49 Turkish hostages held by ISIS freed, prime minister says

Published September 20, 2014

Associated Press

Aug. 29, 2014: Turkey's new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announces his cabinet ministers in Ankara, Turkey. (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey –  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that 49 hostages who were seized by Islamic militants in Iraq have been freed and safely returned to Turkey, ending Turkey's most serious hostage crisis.
The hostages were seized from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq on June 11, when the Islamic State group overran the city in its surge to seize large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Their release contrasts with the recent beheadings of two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker by the Islamic State group, but it wasn't immediately clear what Turkey had done to secure the safe release of the hostages.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the hostages are 49 Turkish consulate employees — 46 Turks and three local Iraqis — including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, other diplomats, children and special forces police.
The hostages were released early on Saturday and had arrived in Turkey, Davutoglu told Turkish reporters during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan. He said he was cutting his visit short to meet them in the province of Sanliurfa, near Turkey's border with Syria.
He didn't say where the release took place, but the arrival of the hostages in Sanliurfa indicates they may have been moved from Iraq to Syria, demonstrating the Islamic State group's cross border reach.
Turkey had been reluctant to join a coalition to defeat the Islamic State group, citing the safety of its 49 kidnapped citizens. The United States had been careful not to push Turkey too hard as it tried to free the hostages.
The extremist group beheaded two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker who were working in Syria as payback for airstrikes that Washington has launched against them in Iraq.
Leaders gave only limited details of the release and it wasn't clear if Turkey had paid ransoms to have the hostages released, or what other method had been used to avoid their hostages meeting a similar fate.
Davutoglu said the release was the result of the intelligence agency's "own methods," and not a "point operation" involving special forces, but didn't elaborate.
"After intense efforts that lasted days and weeks, in the early hours, our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country," Davutoglu said.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turks were freed through "a successful operation."
"I thank the prime minister and his colleagues for this operation which was pre-planned, whose every detail was calculated, which lasted through the night in total secrecy and ended successfully this morning," Erdogan said in a statement.
Thirty-two Turkish truck drivers who were also seized in Mosul on June 6 were released a month later. Turkey did not provide information surrounding their release.

Pope’s Albania visit to showcase peace between religions

September 18, 2014

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will head to Albania on Sunday on his first trip to a European country, to pay tribute to those who suffered under Communism and praise a political system under which religions unite.

A recent warning from Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See that the 77-year-old could be targeted by IS jihadists during his visit to the mostly-Muslim country has been shrugged off by the Vatican, which said security measures would remain unchanged.

 

The Argentine pontiff, who habitually throws caution to the winds to mingle with the crowds, will use the same open-topped vehicle he uses in Saint Peter's Square at a mass in Tirana, the capital of one of Europe's poorest countries.

 

Some Vatican watchers fear the pope has made himself a target by speaking out against the Islamic State organisation and having the Holy See voice support for US air strikes in Iraq – a rare exception to its policy of peaceful conflict resolution.

 

Francis will likely be hoping to counter this with a message of hope for the Middle East, with Albania held up as an example of a land where religions often in strife elsewhere cohabit successfully.

 

In August, he said he had chosen Albania because it had managed to create a "government of national unity among Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics, with an interreligious council that has helped a lot and is balanced."

 

"The pope's presence will be a way of saying to everyone, 'See, we can all work together!'," he said.

 

The trip will be an 11-hour marathon during which the pontiff will meet Albanian president Bujar Nishani, celebrate mass in Tirana's Mother Teresa square, lunch with bishops, chat with religious leaders and visit orphans.

 

Martyrs of the faith 

 

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics also wants to honour those who suffered under former dictator Enver Hoxha, who declared Albania the world's first atheist state in 1967, and during whose reign priests and imams were persecuted and holy places razed.

 

"1,820 churches, Orthodox and Catholic, were destroyed in that period. Destroyed! And other churches were transformed into cinemas, theatres, dance halls. I felt like I should go," Francis said.

 

Between 1945 and 1985, 111 priests, 10 seminarians and seven bishops died in detention or were executed.

 

It will be the second papal visit to Albania. Pope John Paul II travelled there the year after Communism collapsed in the country in 1992.

 

The current Pope "is not beginning his trips to Europe in Berlin, Paris or London. His focus is on those who are not the most rich or powerful," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.

 

Albania is not a country which usually ranks very high on the papal travel list: before John Paul II, the last pope to set their sights on Albania, Pius II, reportedly died on the way there in 1464.

 

But it is very in keeping with the Argentine pope's trademark rejection of the rich in favour of the poor, marginalised or vulnerable.

 

Francis joked that "there are those who say the pope tends to start everything from the periphery", but insisted on Albania's importance, describing it as a nation of "noble people."

 

About two-thirds of the population are Muslim, followed by Catholics -- accounting for 15 percent of the population, and the Orthodox church at 11 percent.

 

In a country with one of the youngest populations in Europe, the Vatican will be hoping to exploit the potential to recruit new faithful and boost the number of Catholic believers in a continent gripped by secularism.

 

Francis will almost certainly echo John Paul II's message to the freshly post-Communist country given in an emotional mass during which he cried out "dear Albanians, your drama must interest the whole European continent. Europe must not forget." — Agence France-Presse

"Republic of Ilirida" declared in Macedonia

Source: Tanjug

SKOPJE -- Former leader of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Action in Macedonia Nevzat Halili on Thursday in Skopje declared "the Republic of Ilirida."

Speaking in Skenderbeg Square in Skopje, he said this "republic" was based "on the Constitution of the United States and its preamble that states that each human being has the right to govern itself."
Halili said that the new republic is also based "on the position of American President Woodrow Wilson who said that the people have a right to self-determination," the Macedonian media reported.

Halili asked Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to initiate proceedings for the federalization of Macedonia.

As "president of Ilirida," he asked that Macedonia in the future functions as a state of two equal republics - llirida and Macedonia - modeled on the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro and the Belgian federation.

"We are not in favor of changing Macedonia's external borders, but administrative boundaries between Illirida and Macedonia should be defined. This should be done according to the model Serbia and Montenegro had a few years ago, and what Belgium has now," said Halili.

If the Macedonian institutions ignore these demands, he said, there would be a referendum.

"We Albanians have 400,000 votes in Macedonia," he explained.

Halili said the federalization of the country was necessary because the Ohrid agreement, although it stopped the conflict in 2001, failed to provide equality for Albanians.

The proclamation of the Republic of Ilirida was welcomed by Idriz Sinani, president of the International Forum for Human Rights, who said it marked an end to the discrimination against Albanians in Macedonia.

"It seems as if Albanian political parties that are today active in the Macedonian government and parliament have abandoned Albanian requests for equality with Slavic citizens."

"Macedonian Albanians have been manipulated for years, because it has been so many years and we are still second-class citizens, if not third-class. The war that began in the name of national unification of Albanians into a single state has lost its mission and ended up as an uprising for respect of human rights. It's called treason because no Albanian would pick up a rifle for the sake of human rights. Albanians struggle for freedom and national unification with the motherland, Albania," said Sinani.

Sinani urged "Illirida institutions" to respect that "every man" is free to enjoy these rights regardless of ethnicity, race, color and religion, because it is the only democratic way, which is based on modern human rights and freedoms.

Police starts measures for Pope’s visit
18/09/2014

The Police started its measures for guaranteeing security during the visit of Pope Francis, which will be held this Sunday in our country.

The police will reinforce the entire territory, and there will be stronger measures in the border. Police patrols will be increased in all roads.

The Interior Ministry says that 2500 police forces will be engaged with specific duties. The Ministry asked citizens to minimize their movements.

"RS to go to referendum unless Dayton is respected"

Source: Beta

BANJA LUKA -- RS President Milorad Dodik has said after returning from an official visit to Moscow that Russia continually expresses its commitment to the Dayton Agreement.

(Beta/AP, file)

The leader of the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina pointed out that Russia does so through its activities in the Peace Implementation Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in the UN Security Council.
"We had the opportunity to thank President Vladimir Putin for the continued support that Russia provides also through the UN Security Council and the Peace Implementation Council, which is of great importance for the Serb Republic (RS)," said Dodik.

He added that the demand to hold an independence referendum in the RS was legitimate, and that this would happen unless the original Dayton Accords is respected - and if the transfer of entity powers to the state level continued.

Speaking about comparisons between the referendum in Scotland and a possible referendum on independence in the RS, Dodik said that the entity "respects the written Dayton."

"We want to go back to the original Dayton Accords and what it says, and that means a return of the powers taken from us," said Dodik.

The RS does not dispute the original jurisdiction of Bosnia as defined by the Dayton Agreement, but challenges, he said, "the violence of high representatives, their arrogance, the grabbing of RS powers and their transfer to Sarajevo."

Dodik warned that the RS will defend its status and build it further, noting that he never "located time-wise" the possible referendum.

"We want dialogue, and if there is no dialogue, the RS will legitimize its right to a referendum in order to decide on its status," said Dodik.

He added that Russia's support is important primarily because high international representatives in Bosnia in their reports to the Security Council "always presented lies about the Serb Republic."

"We have received confirmation that it will in future meetings as well the Russian Federation will respect the information that comes from the RS," noted Dodik.

He further stated that the Russian president gave his absolute support to all projects and cooperation between the entity and the Russian Federation.

"The government of the Russian Federation envisaged in the revised budget a loan to be granted to the RS, and we will close that loan through a bank, and will in that way avoid any unpleasantness because of the parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina," Dodik said.

According to him, it is a favorable arrangement for the RS that would secure its long-term budget stability.

Dodik clarified that the loan will be worth between EUR 500 and 700 million, adding that it will stabilize the budget and public funds and prevent any problems in the payment of salaries and pensions.

Stating that he sought a low interest rate (two to three percent), a grace period of one to two years, and repayment of the loan within 10 to 15 years, the RS president said that the Russian side has "neither rejected nor confirmed these conditions."

"It remains for these terms to be concluded with the bank, which will be given the right to negotiate with us on this issue," said Dodik.

"The RS loan agreement with Russia does not seek to jeopardize the arrangements we have with the IMF, instead we want to avoid any conditioning," he added.

RS officials also reiterated that they agreed on "a small" loan worth EUR 75 million with the VTB Bank.

RS Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović, who accompanied Dodik in Moscow this week, said that one of the topics was the commitment to realize the construction of the South Stream through the RS, "regardless of the circumstances."

"We cannot influence international circumstances, but it has been confirmed that the Serb Republic will not give up on South Stream. The second project is the gasification before South Stream is built," said Cvijanović.

She added that an agreement was signed with Gazprom which will enable the RS to receive gas supplies without intermediaries.

Cvijanović denied that the trip to Moscow was meant to raise the rating of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) before the October election, stating that they traveled to Russia as "state officials of the RS" and spoke with the Russian president "exclusively about state issues."

Pope Francis the 'pontiff of the poor', says Greece's Alexis Tsipras

Leftist opposition leader says he and Francis saw eye-to-eye on banks, profits and 'pan-human values' during Vatican talks

• Helena Smith in Athens
• The Guardian, Thursday 18 September 2014 19.38 BST
• Jump to comments (16)

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras’s meeting with Pope Francis followed months of clandestine negotiations. Photograph: Martin Godwin

Greece's opposition leader Alexis Tsipras – a radical leftist and self-described atheist – has hailed Pope Francis as the "pontiff of the poor" after meeting him for talks at the Vatican.
The Greek firebrand, among the loudest critics of the politics of austerity, emerged from discussions with the pope saying the two men had seen eye-to-eye on such issues as banks, profits and the need for Europe's left to deepen dialogue with the church. "We come from different ideological starting points," said Tsipras, Europe's first leftwing leader to be invited to the Vatican. "But we meet on [the matter] of pan-human values."
The dialogue had ranged from Europe's economic crisis, the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, the gulf between rich and poor and the tragedy of uncontrolled migration, he said.
The Argentinian-born pontiff agreed to meet the politician after months of clandestine negotiations between European leftists and the Holy See.
Tsipras, 39, who stood as the bloc's candidate for EU commissioner in the European elections, and whose Syriza party is leading polls in Greece, presented the pope with an olive branch, the symbol of peace. In return, Pope Francis, 77, gave Tsipras a copy of his apostolic exhortation, the Joy of the Gospel, outlining what some have described as his radical views on the church's role in the modern world.
"It was a meeting of the like-minded," said Panos Skourletis, Syriza's spokesman. "The pope has a disposition for dialogue with people of other backgrounds, outside the church. He believes in dialogue between the church and the left."
Tsipras did not waste the opportunity to explicate the inequities of austerity, particularly in Greece, long at the forefront of the EU's financial crisis. "I had the chance to convey the picture that exists at this time in Greece. To tell him that after four years of impasse and unfair austerity policies, the majority of Greek people are paying [a great price] while at the same time banks are being saved," he said.
The pope, who experienced Argentina's economic collapse first hand when he was bishop of Buenos Aires, was reportedly sympathetic, agreeing that reining in budget deficits through whip-lashing austerity was the wrong course to take. "You young politicians speak a different language that resembles a melody of hope," he was quoted as saying during the talks.
Tsipras's seeming conversion to being a fervent admirer of the church has not passed without comment. This summer, he made a two-day visit to the all-male monastic republic of Mount Athos in what many described as a desperate bid to improve ties with the Greek Orthodox church and boost his mainstream credentials. But the politician, who has steadfastly refused to marry the mother of his two young children in a religious service, insisted on Thursday that the time had come for the European left to build bridges with the institution.
"We agreed on the need to continue the dialogue between the European left and the Christian church," he said. "There is a need to create an ecumenical alliance against poverty, inequalities, against the logic that markets and profits are above people."

Scots vote against independence

Source: B92

Scotland will remain a part of the United Kingdom, voters have decided in a referendum on Thursday.

(Beta/AP)

Over 55 percent voted against the motion for Scotland to gain its independence after 307 years.
The referendum results showed that support for remaining in Britain was higher than expected based on surveys before the vote and during it.

The turnout was over 84 percent, the highest since universal suffrage was introduced after the Second World War.

Of the 32 districts most independence supporters were in Glasgow and in Dundee, a city that is considered their stronghold.

Those in favor of Scotland continuing as part of Britain had high support in the capital city of Edinburgh, the center of the oil industry Aberdeen, in the districts along the English border and the Shetland Islands.

The verdict was made in the most populous part of Scotland, a narrow lowland strip that connects the major cities Edinburgh and Glasgow, where unionists recorded a series of victories.

Rama: Supporting USA in the fight against ISIS
18/09/2014

The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, presented a panorama of the Wales NATO summit and the position held by Albania.

The government leader guaranteed that Albania would support the international partners, the USA and the EU, for every action in defending security and freedom.

“Forced by the attacks that will escalate from the international coalition, the terrorist mercenaries will try to find shelter in their countries of origin, by threatening to export the barbarity shown in Syria and Iraq. The stance of Albania was summarized in the need to involve NATO as soon as possible in Balkan countries”, Rama declared.

The government leader made clear the support of our country for the NATO open-door policy, especially for the countries of our region; for the structured relation of Kosovo with the Alliance; the rigorous implementation of the Ochrid Agreement, as the request that Albania focused most on during its participation in Wales.

“By asking to include even the yet unresolved issue, according to us, of the Ochrid Agreement, Albania doesn’t aim to hamper the integration path of our neighbor. Absolutely not. We believe that the establishing of democratic standards in the relations with the Albanians of Macedonia, by implementing the Ochrid agreement, will create conditions for a more stable future of Macedonia, and will take another step for the consolidation of the region against the threat of Islamic extremism”, Rama underlined.

Greece asks IMF chief for more information on death threat claims

Judicial inquiry follows Christine Lagarde's claim that she faced death threats after accusing wealthy Greeks of tax evasion

• Helena Smith in Athens
• theguardian.com, Thursday 18 September 2014 13.52 BST

IMF chief Christine Lagarde, who said she was forced to increase her personal security after accusing wealthy Greeks of tax evasion. Photograph: AFP/Getty

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, Christine Lagarde, could soon be called to participate in a second judicial investigation after claiming that she received death threats when she spoke out on tax evasion in Greece.
The inquiry, announced by a supreme court prosecutor in Athens, came days after the IMF managing director stunned Greeks by saying she had been forced to bolster her personal security after raising the subject.
Speaking of the failure of some rich Greeks to pay their dues, Lagarde told the Financial Times last week that it was a topic best left alone because it had got her into trouble. "I better not say too much because, you know, when I have talked about Greece and its taxes before, I got death threats and we had to increase security," she was quoted as saying.
The former French finance minister, who was put under formal investigation for potential criminal negligence by a court in Paris last month, then asked: "But is the shipping industry really paying its taxes? Are others? I don't think so."
Greek authorities launched the inquiry on Wednesday after Athens' justice minister, Haralambos Athanasiou, announced that he had written to Lagarde asking that she provide further details about the alleged threats.
Athanasiou took the step after the IMF chief sparked widespread embarrassment with the claim. Fears abound that Lagarde's seemingly off-the-cuff remarks could impact negatively on a country that has been kept afloat with emergency bailout funds from the EU and IMF for the past four years.
"How are we going to attract badly needed foreign investment when Greece is perceived not as a nation in which the rule of law prevails but as one as in which cartels and the mafia have the upper hand?" asked Dimitris Tsiodras, a leading commentator. "Lagarde is not alone. Others have received threats too," he told the Guardian.
Few figures have been as associated with the perennial problem of tax evasion in Greece as Lagarde, the first woman to lead the Washington-based fund. In 2010, as French finance minister, she handed her then Greek counterpart, George Papaconstantinou, a list of 2,062 suspected Greek tax dodgers with undeclared deposits at the Geneva branch of HSBC for the express purpose of clamping down on tax avoidance.
At more than €20bn a year, lost income from the "national sport" remains by far the biggest single drain on the country's economy. Other EU countries acted on similar data, originally stolen by a renegade employee before being seized by the French police, but Athens did almost nothing to prosecute the holders of the accounts.
Instead, after six years of withering recession on the back of near economic and social collapse, the "Lagarde list" has come to represent the inequities of a crisis in which the vast majority have been hit by punishing austerity – the price of international aid - but the wealthy elite have got off scot free.
The IMF chief has won support from unlikely allies. After the publication of her remarks, the radical-left anti-austerity opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, also caused ructions saying that he too had been the victim of similar threats when he raised the issue of tax evasion at the height of the crisis two years ago.
"Mrs Lagarde's announcement was shocking," Tsipras said. "I can't imagine, especially in an interview with the Financial Times, that she was just throwing words around."
Athens' central bank governor, Yannis Stournaras, said he received two bullets in the post when, as finance minister, he attempted to arrest high-profile tax avoiders.
On Wednesday, Greece's inspector general of public administration, Leandros Rakintzis, sent further tremors through the political scene by announcing that "obstacles" had prevented him from pursuing well-known tax evaders.
Lagarde has resisted commenting on the furore her remarks have caused. The IMF chief, a lawyer by profession, has conceded that she was infuriated by the decision of a French court last month to place her under investigation. She has denied wrongdoing in allowing an arbitration process to end a dispute between the businessman Bernard Tapie, a friend and supporter of the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and the former state-owed bank Crédit Lyonnais.

US Embasy in Tirana announces to the US citizens to avoid a potential crisis, during the ceremony on Sunday.

U.S. Embassy Tirana, Albania

Security Message:  Papal Visit to Tirana

September 18, 2014

On Sunday, September 21, Pope Francis will visit Tirana.  According to information from the Vatican, the visit will begin with a welcoming ceremony at Mother Teresa International Airport and include events at the Presidential Palace, the Catholic University, the Cathedral of Saint Paul, the Centro Betania charitable institution, and a public mass in Mother Teresa Square. 

The Embassy expects very large crowds at all of the events, and some estimates suggest more than 500,000 people will attend the public mass in Mother Teresa Square.  Media reports also have noted recent threats against the Pope.  Although Albanian authorities will take precautionary measures as best they can, given the projected size of the crowd, it will be difficult for authorities to respond to an emergency situation.  Local government capacity to provide medical services and emergency first response is limited.  The Embassy will not be in a position to locate or provide immediate assistance to U.S. citizens in the crowd.  If you choose to attend the mass, you should be aware of your surroundings, maintain a high level of vigilance, and have a plan for how to leave the area quickly, but in an orderly manner, should the need arise.  If you are traveling with a group, have a pre-determined meeting point in case you become separated.  Do not plan to rely on cellular phone service as demands on the system will exceed capacity.

There will be extensive road closures throughout the center of the city beginning early Sunday morning.  Traffic throughout Tirana will be affected, including on major arteries leading into and out of the city.   Travel routes between the eastern and western parts of the city will be limited.  Routes to and from the airport will also be affected and if you are planning to travel by air you should contact your airline for information on possible flight delays.  Monitor local media for additional information on road closures and travel delays.

We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Albania enroll in the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).  STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency.  If you don’t have Internet access, enroll directly with the nearest U.S. embassy.
Regularly monitor the State Department's website, where you can find current Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and the Worldwide Caution.  Read the Country Specific Information for Albania.  For additional information, refer to “Traveler's Checklist.”
Contact the U.S. Embassy for up-to-date information on travel restrictions. You can also call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries.  These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to have travel information at your fingertips.
The U.S. Embassy in Tirana is located at Rruga Elbasanit, Nr. 103 in Tirana, Albania, and is open to the public by appointment on Monday through Thursday from 13:00 to 15:45.  You can schedule a non-emergency appointment by visiting our American Citizens Services website.  If you are a U.S. citizen in need of urgent assistance, the emergency number for the U.S. Embassy in Tirana is +355-(0)-4224-7285.

Serb List won't join cabinet with Self-Determination

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- The Serb List is ready to take part in a future Kosovo government that will not have representatives of the Self-Determination Movement, it has been announced.

(Tanjug)

This was agreed during a meeting held between political representatives of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.
"The meeting achieved absolute unity on all positions, and adopted principles for the Serb List's activities in the provincial government," Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director Marko Đurić told reporters in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Đurić was addressing a joint news conference with Serb List representatives, municipal officials from Kosovo, and members of a steering team set up to form the community of Serb municipalities.

He added that the Serb List was "open to conversations with everyone, and ready for other possibilities, including early elections."

Albanian politicians and their surroundings, buy property in northern Greece





Greek Army Special Forces, patrolling the border during the summer, had more information than in these areas, Albanians, are buying more assets of Greek citizens

Greek intelligence service, EYP informs Prime Minister Samaras, many Albanian nationalist MPs and Chams purchase real estate in the area as in Thesprotia and Epirus.
Some Greek provincial politicians, mainly PASOK paid to perform processes transactions from Albanians

Athens. "Hotels, motor boats, Boats, shops and luxury villas are often purchased by Albanians, especially in areas of northern Greece, in Thesprotia, Korfu and Ioannina."

Thus begins a more secret report sent by the Security Service of Greece, EYP, for the Prime Minister Antoni Samaras, who according to Greek portals, issues like this, constitutes a serious threat to the National Security of Greece.

Becoming a complicated issue with the boats, hotels and villas through  illegal transactions, they are becoming increasingly frequent in the Northern Regions of Greece, for which, these assets have been recorded, under the Greek names, or are forged by Greek officials through corrupt methods.

 Update the report yet more of the Greek Army Special Forces, patrolling the border during the summer, they had more information than in these areas, Albanians, are buying more assets of Greek citizens.

But specifically, the group of Cham Party in Albanian Parliament, Party for Justice and Integration PJIU and several former Socialist Party ministers and their family members, have concentrated their capital in northern Greece illegally, creating a strong base for Financial and Economic, by exploiting poverty that Greek families are experiencing today.

According to the report, these powerful economic investment, led by Albanian tomorrow may constitute a threat to the surprise of the Albanian nationalist expansionism, with unpredictable consequences for national security in Greece.

Sources: www.dyktio24.gr

Alexis Tsipras arranges to meet with Pope Francis on Thursday

SYRIZA leader and Catholic Church leader will discuss immigration, unemployment and peace in the Middle East

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The leader of the main opposition Alexis Tsipras will travel to the Vatican where he will meet with Pope Francis, in the first meeting between the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the leader of a Left party. Immigration, social justice, combating unemployment and the need for peace in the Middle East are on the agenda.

SYRIZA officers note that Pope Francis, who is also known as “the Pope of the Poor”, has been vocal in his criticism of the markets in contemporary societies and has requested that the conflicts in Gaza and elsewhere come tom end. The Pope has also expressed his belief that religions must cooperate to help towards establishing peace.

On his trip to the Vatican Mr. Tsipras will be accompanied by SYRIZA spokesman Panos Skourtletis and Walter Baier, the coordinator of transform!, a European network for alternative thinking and political dialog.

The Greater Albania

Republic of Illyrida will be announced in the square "Skanderbeg" in Skopje


 
Sinan idriz "will officially request that Macedonia is a country with two assemblies and regulated by the example of Switzerland"


Idriz Sinan, representative of the Republic of Illyrida, said Albanian newspaper "news" that the announcement will be Thursday at 13 and 30 minutes, and for this event is officially notified the Macedonian police.

"After the warnings of experts and analysts that any advertisement that is done outside Skopje harm national Illyrida representatives have decided that its official announcement to be Square" Skanderbeg "-shkruante daily" news ".

Will formally ask Macedonia to be a state with two assemblies and regulated by the example of Switzerland, "said Sinan.

Initially it was supposed to happen in Tetovo proclamation of the Republic of Illyrida, an ethnic Albanian territory located in the state of Macedonia today.

According to organizers, this area was off limits to the political state of the London Conference in 1913, although representatives of Albanians took part in the proclamation of independence in the Assembly of Vlora in 1912 and earlier in the Albanian League of Prizren in 1876

Social injustice index ‘highly explosive’ in Europe – report

Published time: September 16, 2014

A man walks past a beggar in Madrid, June 19, 2014. (Reuters/Jon Nazca)

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EU, Economy

The level of social injustice has increased in most EU countries in recent years, and the severe austerity policies haven’t done much to stabilize the situation, according to a new report by the German Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation.
The study, published on Monday, found there is an "enormous discrepancy" in social justice across the 28 EU members.
The best performing overall were Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands and falling below average were Malta, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Ireland, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Latvia, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece.
The report lauds the effort of post-communist states Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Estonia for ranking above average on the overall index, which is based on 35 separate criteria related to health, employment, education, poverty, and social factors such as discrimination.

Image from bertelsmann-stiftung.de

Results “suggest that the rigid austerity policies pursued during the crisis and the structural reforms aimed at economic and budgetary stabilization have had, in most countries, negative effects with regard to social justice,” the report said.
One example of negative social justice is unemployment, which varies widely across the continent. The average unemployment rate in the eurozone is 12 percent, yet Greece suffers from an unemployment rate of 27.8 percent whereas Austria only has a 5.0 percent rate.
“This is a highly explosive situation with regard to societal cohesion and social stability within the European Union,” the report says.
In post-crisis Europe, northern countries have prospered while growth has stalled in the Mediterranean - namely Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
“The gap between participation opportunities in the still-wealthy countries of northern Europe and in the crisis-struck southern nations has thus significantly increased,” the report reads.
Youth unemployment also highlights the stark contrast in recovery. Joblessness among people aged 15-24 has climbed to record highs, especially in Southern Europe - in Greece almost 60 percent of young people are unemployed. Even more developed economies like Sweden and Finland haven’t found the right formula in fighting youth unemployment. In Sweden 23.5 percent of youngsters are unemployed and 19.9 percent in Finland.
Across the EU, 28 per cent of children and young people are threatened by poverty or social exclusion, the report said.
Overall, labor opportunities have deteriorated in EU member states as a result of the financial crisis. As a political bloc, they are likely to miss their declared 2020 targets to reach 75 percent employment rates.
A solution “requires EU-wide awareness of the problems of currently unsustainable and growing inequalities within the EU,” Bertelsmann Stiftung concludes.

Albania to seek EU support for infrastructure investments

Sep 17,2014

TIRANA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Albanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Edmond Haxhinasto on Wednesday emphasized the need to seek investment support for its corridor VIII scheme during a meeting of EU Council of Transport Ministers in Milan.

According to the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, the corridor includes road connections with Macedonia, capacity enhancement at Albanian ports and railways.

During meetings with his German and Montenegrin counterparts, Haxhinasto said support for Blue Corridor linking Western Balkan countries was one of the most important issues raised in the Berlin meeting.
It is the first time Albania is taking part in the Council of EU Transport Ministers, marking a new step towards on its way of EU integration.

Ten pan-European transport corridors were defined at a transport conference in 1994. Routes in Central and Eastern Europe were deemed to require major investment.

Ukraine:  Donetsk and Lugansk regions with large autonomy

Russia's Foreign Ministry says the law regarding special status for the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, approved by the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, is "positive" and "provides the basis for the launch of a substantial constitutional process in Ukraine," which will help achieve peace in the country.
In its comments

Moscow also said that any attempts to prevent the law from coming into force by "certain political groups" in Ukraine might worsen the situation in the country's south-east and "undermine international and local politicians’ efforts" to solve the crisis.

New York Times

How The Map Of Europe Would Be Redrawn If All The Separatist Movements Get Their Way

Dina Spector

The Scottish independence movement will embolden other active separatist groups in Europe to win their freedom, whether or not Scotland votes to secede from the UK on Thursday.
From Catalonia and Basque Country in Spain to Veneto, South Tyrol, and the island of Sardinia in Italy to Flanders in Belgium, "the precedent of the vote on self-determination will reverberate around the Continent," The New York Times writes.
If you want a rough idea of how European borders would have to be redrawn if regions with a separatist agenda got their way, you can look at the map below, put together by the European Free Alliance, to which "40 progressive nationalist, regionalist and autonomous parties throughout the European Union" belong.
European Free Alliance

SEE ALSO:  What The Union Jack Might Look Like If Scotland Votes For Independence

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-separatist-movements-in-europe-2014-9#ixzz3DZhyL8hk

US will have ‘many more’ 9/11s if it fails to act against Islamic State – House Rep

USA - Albanian Lobbyist Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee expressed his support for President Barack Obama’s plan to combat IS

 

Published time: September 17, 2014 02:32

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Reuters / Eduardo Munoz

If the US fails to attack Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria, the country could face the prospect of “many” terrorist attacks similar to September 11, a top-ranking Democrat says. It comes as the House debates arming Syrian rebels to fight IS.

Speaking during a floor debate at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee expressed his support for President Barack Obama’s plan to combat IS (previously known as ISIS/ISIL) and said that failure to authorize the plan would lead to devastating consequences for the US.
 
“I understand that my colleagues are war weary. I’m war weary. I understand the American people are war weary,” Engel said, as quoted by The Hill. “But I think doing nothing would invite something very similar that happened to my city, New York City, on that fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001.”
“If we do nothing, ISIS (IS) will plot and plan and we’ll have many more 9/11s in the United States, in Europe, in the Middle East,” he claimed.

The House is currently debating whether or not to pass an amendment that would allow President Obama to direct the military to arm and train rebel factions in Syria in order to fight the Islamic State.

 Terrorism in Kosovo, five imams arrested including a politician ....

In the eve of the Pope's visit in Tirana





PRISTINA - About 15 people, among them five imams and a politician were arrested this morning by Kosovo police, suspected of incitement to hatred participants interfaith and sending the Albanians in Syria and Iraq wars, arm terrorist organizations.

In addition police arrested Imam of the Grand Mosque in Pristina, Shefqet Krasniqi, accused of inciting religious hatred and Islamic extremism. For the same reason, was also arrested Imam of Peja, Anas Goga. Another  imam is arrested, Enis Rama, an imam at the mosque 'Isa Beg "in Mitrovica and the TV editor of' "Peace TV " in English language. It was also arrested Ekrem Avdiu, who currently serves as imam of the mosque and lecturer in the neighborhood 'Tavnik' in Mitrovica.

Alsois arrested the leader of  Islamic Movement Join Party, Fuad Ramiqi after allegedly manipulated and encourage young people to fight in Kosovo Syria and Iraq. Kosovo media during this action taken by the police, was arrested also another friend of the Albanian jihadist Lavdrim Muhaxheri.

The police action, confirmed by the structures of the order who have announced for Kosovo media that this action will continue. Baki Kelani, Kosovo police spokesman, confirmed that since the early morning hours, police are conducting this action across the country.

The arrests come at a time when Kosovo is on the verge of passing a law which condemns to 15 years imprisonment participation in foreign wars, terrorist connotations.

Islamic extremism headed terrorist organization "Islamic State of Iraq and Levan" is regarded as a global threat, where democratic countries, led by the United States, urged all countries of the world to join forces in the fight against terrorism .

A month ago, forty people were arrested on suspicion of having taken part in fighting in Syria and Iraq announced support terrorist organizations, ISIL and Al-Nusrat, performing this act offenses against national security and constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo .

Pope at risk of assassination by ISIS during forthcoming visits to Albania and Turkey following 'credible threats', claims Iraq ambassador

    Pontiff due to visit Albania, which is majority Sunni Muslim, this Sunday
    Iraq's ambassador to Holy See warned nowhere is safe - including Britain
    'I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome', he said
    But Vatican has insisted Francis will not use bulletproof Popemobile
    Spokesman said security officials are 'calm' about one-day weekend visit

By Dan Bloom for MailOnline

Published: 19:12 GMT, 16 September 2014

ISIS has made 'credible threats' to kill Pope Francis, a top Iraqi diplomat has warned just days before the Pontiff visits the mainly Muslim nation of Albania.

Habeeb Al Sadr issued the stark warning today after Vatican officials insisted there was no threat to his safety - and said he will not ride in the bulletproof 'Popemobile' of his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Mr Al Sadr, Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, admitted he knew of no 'specific facts' or 'operational projects' but said: 'Just put two and two together... They want to kill the Pope.'

Scroll down for video
Warning: The Pope will use the open-top car (pictured) from which he greets the faithful in St Peter's Square when he visits Albania on Sunday, despite Iraq's ambassador saying his life is in danger from ISIS extremists
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Warning: The Pope will use the open-top car (pictured) from which he greets the faithful in St Peter's Square when he visits Albania on Sunday, despite Iraq's ambassador saying his life is in danger from ISIS extremists
Habeeb Al Sadr, said: 'Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together.' But the Pope calls his bulletproof glass vehicle a 'sardine can'
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Habeeb Al Sadr, said: 'Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together.' But the Pope calls his bulletproof glass vehicle a 'sardine can'
Beloved: The Pope pictured at a Mass to celebrate several weddings at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday
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Beloved: The Pope pictured at a Mass to celebrate several weddings at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday

The ambassador said the spread of extremists across the world meant Pope Francis is at risk anywhere - in Muslim countries, on trips to Britain and the U.S. and even in Rome.

He told the Italian newspaper La Nazione: 'Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together.


More...

    Top general admits that US could put boots on the ground for 'close combat advising' in fight against ISIS in Iraq
    U.S. launches new phase of mission to 'destroy' ISIS with offensive airstrike to protect Iraqi forces near Baghdad
    Who betrayed Brit hostage Alan Henning? Tip-off led to kidnap by ISIS just 30mins after he arrived in Syria

'Let me be clear, I am not aware of specific facts or operational projects. But what has been said by the self-declared "Islamic state" terrorists is clear. They want to kill the Pope.

'I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome, because there are members of ISIS who are not Arabs but also Canadians, Americans, French, British and Italian.

'This gang of criminals does not merely threaten. In Iraq they have violated or destroyed some of the holiest sites of Shia Islam. They have hit places of worship in the Yazidi religion and Christianity. They forced 150,00 Christians to flee Mosul.'
'Sardine can': An armoured Popemobile was introduced after the 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II (pictured in Nigeria) but Pope Francis has said he dislikes the vehicle and would prefer not to use it
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'Sardine can': An armoured Popemobile was introduced after the 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II (pictured in Nigeria) but Pope Francis has said he dislikes the vehicle and would prefer not to use it
Outdated: Pope Benedict XVI waves from the armoured vehicle in 2006 on a visit to Munich, Germany. The Iraqi ambassador warned the current Pontiff is at risk everywhere - including in Britain and the U.S. or even Rome
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Outdated: Pope Benedict XVI waves from the armoured vehicle in 2006 on a visit to Munich, Germany. The Iraqi ambassador warned the current Pontiff is at risk everywhere - including in Britain and the U.S. or even Rome

The ambassador said the ethos of the terrorists was 'convert or be killed' and described their murderous spread through Iraq as a 'genocide'.

But he added Christians could not be 'prisoners of fear' and called on the Pope to send 'a message of hope to the Christians of the Middle East and around the world'.

He added: 'With his wisdom and his courage could make this visit a bridge between our religions, a message of peace in the name of Abraham.'
I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome, because there are members of ISIS who are not Arabs but also Canadians, Americans, French, British and Italian

Iraq had among the first Christians in the world, in the form of Assyrians who have faced centuries of persecution since.

Up to a million Christians are thought to have fled the country since British and U.S. troops invaded in 2003, with the violence of Islamic State militants triggering a new exodus.

The terrorists follow an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam, declaring Shia Muslims and Sunnis who refused to kill as sworn enemies.

Pope Francis will make a brief 11-hour visit to Albania, more than half of whose citizens are Sunni Muslims, this Sunday to mark the rebirth of religion after Communism fell in the early 1990s.

He will celebrate Mass in a square named for Albania's most famous Catholic, Mother Teresa, in a bid to show how Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims now live in harmony in the country where Catholics were once executed and sent to work camps.

He is also due to visit Turkey at the end of November.

Italian newspapers have claimed security sources fear violent jihadis previously in Iraq and Syria could return to their home countries and carry out an attack.
UN chief urges nations to act decisively on Islamic State
Marauders: Self-styled Islamic State terrorists have swept through Iraq and Syria committing mass murder
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Marauders: Self-styled Islamic State terrorists have swept through Iraq and Syria committing mass murder
Isolated: The militants have declared Christians, Yazidi people and even other Sunni Muslims as their enemies


Isolated: The militants have declared Christians, Yazidi people and even other Sunni Muslims as their enemies

But the Vatican insisted security officials were 'calm' about the visit this Sunday.

Spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said the Pope will greet the crowds from the same open-top white car he uses in St Peter's Square.

It makes a striking change from the moving bulletproof glass booth which entered regular use after the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981.

While his predecessor Benedict XVI regularly appeared behind the glass, the Argentinian Pontiff ditched the 'sardine can' vehicle in June after saying it kept him too far from the faithful.

Mr Lombardi said officials were concerned about ISIS, but added: 'There are no specific threats or risks that would change the pope's behaviour or the way the trip is organised.'
Read more:

    L'INTERVISTA L'ambasciatore iracheno: "Il Papa è in grave pericolo" - QuotidianoNet - Notizie in tempo reale